1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an operation assist apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Operation assist apparatuses for assisting to stop a vehicle are known. Among those, Japanese Patent Application Publication JP-10-76922 describes an operation assist apparatus that generates an alert or automatically brakes the vehicle if the driver is not decelerating the vehicle when the vehicle is approaching a point where vehicles need to be stopped. This operation assist apparatus determines whether the driver will stop the vehicle at the stop point based on the conditions related to the driver's deceleration operation, such as a throttle opening degree and a brake operation state.
However, it is often the case that a driver, even if he or she is unaware that there is a stop point ahead of the vehicle, decelerates the vehicle by referring to the shape of the intersection or to various traffic or road conditions. Therefore, whether a driver will stop his or her vehicle at a stop point can not be accurately determined by simply referring to the state of the driver's deceleration operation.